(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a container for dispensing a liquid, and more particularly to a single-use container for dispensing a measured amount of a liquid to an infant.
(2) Description of the Related Art
The requirements for administering liquids in accurate amounts, such as is required for medicines, drugs, vitamins, and the like, are different than for the consumption of foods. This is particularly true where the subject is a child or infant. In the case of medicines, the amount of the liquid must be carefully controlled, and care must be taken to insure that the entire dose is successfully administered. When the subject is an infant, consumption may not be voluntary, and spillage or refusal is a danger. Moreover, when an infant is to receive the liquid, great care must be taken to avoid over-insertion of a dosing device into the mouth and throat, thereby causing choking.
In response to these requirements, various devices have been described that are designed to address one or more of the particular requirements. For example, dispensing devices having open, spoon-like bowls in which a liquid is offered are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,252,119, 2,795,043, 4,888,188, 6,264,074, 5,154,318, 5,975,305, 4,841,637, 3,133,679, 3,473,221, 4,192,360, 4,830,222, 6,347,727, 3,946,652, D496,833, 3,116,152, among others. Such devices, however, in most cases, require the subject receiving the contents to voluntarily accept and remove the contents of the bowl when presented.
Spoons that provide for dispensing a liquid at or near the distal end of the bowl are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,688,243, 5,038,974, 5,038,476, 201,369, D34,314, D52,688, D24,197 and D368,209. Many of these devices appear to depend upon either gravity, or an action by the recipient, to deliver the contents of the device.
Feeding devices or injecting devices having multiple parts, and which are designed for refilling and reuse, are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,880,409, 5,556,008, 878,524, 1,661,595, 3,090,071, 3,410,457, 4,182,002, 5,062,550, among others.
Other liquid-filled disposable containers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,626.
Feeding or dosing devices having reservoirs with separate non-unitary tips that are connectable to the reservoir, generally of the style of a regular baby bottle having a removable nipple, are describe in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,041,351, 2,953,170, 3,104,032, 3,306,500, 3,381,857, 3,833,154, 3,946,888, 4,133,457, 4,238,040, 4,469,250, 4,678,092, 4,760,937, 5,667,984, 6,138,847, 6,138,848, and 6,669,013. Nipples for use on devices of this type are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,933,568 and 5,101,991.
Devices having collapsible reservoirs with non-unitary internal diaphragms are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,777,612, 3,995,772, 4,020,978, 4,562,942, 4,657,151, 4,842,165, 6,651,845, and 6,737,091.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,934 describes a device that is non-unitary and opens with the application of a spike or the like, and lacks a breakable seal, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,705 describes a devices that has a non-unitary internal frangible seal that is broken by pressure to the side of a collapsible reservoir.
Yet, with the advances of the prior art, several problems remain to be overcome. For example, it would be useful to provide a dispensing container that did not have multiple parts and that could be made simply and inexpensively. It would also be useful if such dispensing container could be disposed after a single use. It would be useful if such a container could be designed to avoid requiring the user or another person to fill the container and/or measure the amount of liquid to be dosed, thereby improving accuracy, avoiding mistakes, and reducing waste. It would additionally be useful if such a container protected the integrity of the contents during packaging, transporting, selling and storage. Furthermore, it would be useful if such dispensing container could be safely used with infants, in particular avoiding over-insertion of the container into the mouth of the infant and thereby protecting against choking.